Stoic
by Music Intuition
Summary: He doesn't show how he feels about her. That's because he's not quite sure himself. - OldRivalShipping; Green & Blue. Part of 'Boxes of Chocolates'.
1. hold my hand

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_hold my hand_

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"Quick, Green!" she hisses, scooting closer to him in their booth.

Green blushes when he realizes that their hips are touching. "What are you doing?" he asks, raising his eyebrow. The piece of pizza in his left hand droops threateningly over his plate, so he sets it down.

"Hold my hand."

What? "Why?" He attempts to maintain an apathetic face. He fails, though, and his eyes widen in slight panic.

She ignores his protests and grabs the limb, pushing herself even closer into his side.

At that very moment, the door to the pizza parlor bangs into the wall as two guys swagger in, talking noisily. He can hear every word from across the room, And he immediately despises them.

Blue leans close, too close for comfort, and breathes into his ear, "Don't let the one on the left see me."

Too late, of course; the guy has already started his search for an empty chair, sighted Blue, and begun to make his way over. "Hey Blue!" he hollers over the softly playing 80's pop. "What're you doing with that guy? Come eat with us!" His friend snickers, and the cocky look on his face makes Green want to stand up and punch him.

Green doesn't stand up. Even though the guy is obviously looking for a fight. Blue grips his hand, reminding him that she's right there and she wants to stay right there. "Leave her alone. She's… with me." He cringes. Now this afternoon on the town seems like something it isn't.

"Fight for her?"

"Excuse me?"

The guy scowls unpleasantly. "You win, she stays, but if you lose, she comes with me."

"Fine," says the brown-haired boy wearily.

Green wins.

The guy is surprised. Runs off. Clearly, he's not used to losing. Neither is Green, though, a confidence that comes with being a gym leader.

"Are you going to let my hand go now?" he asks, taking another bite of pizza as though nothing happened.

"…No."

Strangely, he's not terribly upset by this.

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_**Author's Note: **__This__ wasn't supposed to be so long, but that's the way it went._

_This piece is the first part of the ten-portioned series 'Boxes of Chocolates'. Each encounter is a private love note, and each of the separately–published stories will cover a different shipping. Each chapter is a different drabble about the shipping; I'll do five per story, possibly more._

_The full list: SpecialShipping (Ambiguous), AgencyShipping (Menial), FranticShipping (Tenacious), ChosenShipping (Exploitable), PanderShipping (Retrospective), CommonerShipping (Parametric), FeelingShipping (Harmonic), OldRivalShipping (Stoic), MangaQuestShipping (Vivacious), and HaughtyShipping (Loquacious). I'm perfectly well aware that the publishing format I ended up deciding on is annoying, but I figured that dividing it up by shipping would be the best way for everyone involved to pick and choose which ones they would like to read, without being 'exposed' to opposing shippings. _

_Please take a look at the others, if you like this one, and enjoy. (For the record, they won't be published until I actually finish writing the first drabble for each of them. I didn't want to spam the forum completely, so… just keep an eye open, I guess. They'll be in the order above.) _

_Also, I should mention that these aren't necessarily sequential. I write what I can, based on the theme I'm given._


	2. killer queen

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_killer queen_

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She's dangerous.

She demands attention with her mere presence. She is the queen of any domain she touches, with boys and men at her beck and call. And Pokemon, too; she commands them in battle without a single word, almost as if they can read minds. Or as if she can put thoughts into heads and take control of any being she wants.

Sometimes he can tolerate this. Sometimes he feels comfortable with himself, his simple existence of defeat or be defeated. Victory is determined by prowess in battle, through emotionless turns of pure intellect.

But for her, existence is something _more._

He knows, from the moment she steps into the challenger's square in his Gym, that he's in trouble. He knows this not because she wears a short black dress, reminiscent of when they'd met, but because she also wears a smile that could raise the dead (not to mention certain portions of his own anatomy).

And those piercing, deadly eyes that speak a thousand novels, that tell him to come closer and to run away and that he can win and that he will lose and that… and that… and that… and a thousand other things he can't even put into words, things he wants to do and can't do and just…

Yes, Blue is dangerous. And Green _knows _that. He always has.

And yet, he can't stay away from her.

After all, he's dangerous too. So he simply licks his lips and prepares for battle.

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End file.
